Latham announces $195-mil plans for education reform

PM - Friday, 3 September , 2004 18:25:00

Reporter: Catherine McGrath

MARK COLVIN: The Opposition leader, Mark Latham, has wrapped up the Melbourne leg of his first visit to Victoria of the election campaign – with a promised $195-million dollar program for schools.

He wants to boost school discipline and improve teaching quality in struggling schools.

Mark Latham made the announcement in the outer suburban Sydenham-Hillside Primary School – and he said Labor was making the commitment for both government and non-government schools, in an effort to improve teaching standards.

He was accompanied by Shadow Education spokeswoman and Deputy Opposition leader, Jenny Macklin.

It's been a low-key start to the election campaign, and Mark Latham will leave Melbourne without having visited any of the key Victorian marginals.

Chief Political Correspondent, Catherine McGrath, is travelling with Mr Latham.

CATHERINE MCGRATH: Mark Latham loves the school room and he was back today in probably his favourite forum – talking to kids in class, this time at the Sydenham Hillside primary school.

MARK LATHAM: Has anyone been to north Queensland and seen a rainforest?

CATHERINE MCGRATH: And then he went on to explain what a rainforest canopy is.

MARK LATHAM: It has the full coverage right across the top, so if you stood on the bottom and you looked up, you wouldn’t see much sunlight, and you'd barely see the sun… that it’s covered so much by the vegetation. That is what someone told me defines a rainforest. I hope they were right. Let's find out.

CATHERINE MCGRATH: But the real business of the day involved launching Labor's Better Schools, Better Teachers, Better Values policy.

MARK LATHAM: I think it was shocking earlier in the year when Mr Howard sat on the sidelines carping and whinging about so-called values, as he put them, in the government school system. Well if there's a problem in our schools, we need to get stuck in and fix it.

JENNY MACKLIN: Today's policy is all about making sure that we provide the resources that children need so that they have the values and discipline that they'll take on into their adult life.

What we all know is that if we don't invest in children while they're young, while they're in primary school, as the children are here today, then we're going to have trouble later on.

CATHERINE MCGRATH: Labor has announced funding of $130-million over four years to help struggling schools attract and retain outstanding teachers, and $65-million for programs to improve class discipline and reduce truancy rates.

The money is available for both government and non-government schools.

MARK LATHAM: We’ve got to protect the interests of the good kids – the students who are studying hard and working hard with good behaviour, but also ensure that those who've got discipline problems face up to those issues.

CATHERINE MCGRATH: The teaching program aims to get high quality teachers to stay in struggling schools by offering financial incentives. And schools will have more flexibility to establish additional positions for leading teachers.

MARK LATHAM: This will be above existing salary levels coming up to lead teacher status. These are people at the peak of the teaching profession, and we want them to be recognised for their achievements.

CATHERINE MCGRATH: In this first week to the election campaign, Mark Latham has begun to try to showcase his leadership qualities. It's been a low-key start – steady certainly, but not outstanding.

But we've learnt more about him. For example, at the press conference today we discovered that he never did wag school as a kid.

MARK LATHAM: No, no, my mother tells me now that she could never find a day when I wanted to stay home. That I was always wanting to go to school. Learning hard, studying hard, I was climbing the ladder of opportunity. And the best opportunity in life comes from going to school.

CATHERINE MCGRATH: And during the week there were questions about where he'd lost his zest... first on ABC radio in Melbourne

MARK LATHAM: No, hardly quiet.

ABC RADIO: Has Mark lost his mojo?

MARK LATHAM: I'm not Austin Powers, you see, so I'm Mark Latham, so let's get on with the job.

CATHERINE MCGRATH: And then on Adelaide ABC radio this morning the questions continued.

ADELAIDE ABC RADIO: Have you found your mojo overnight?

MARK LATHAM: Yeah baby. (Laughs.) I mean it’s a bit silly comparing me to Austin Powers, but there you go.

CATHERINE MCGRATH: So that established – just how has the first week gone? Well he certainly hasn't made any blunders. Labor's plan is to start slowly – after all this is a six-week campaign.

And he's gone from Sydney to Melbourne and that low interest rate guarantee and his school pledge today.

But in Victoria he was nowhere near those key marginal Victorian seats. The launch today was in the safe seat of Gorton – held by a whopping 20 per cent.

And while the television coverage tonight may reach his audience, the boost his visit might give to the seat of Gorton is meaningless.

His low interest rate guarantee this week may be dismissed by some as a stunt, and it was, but Mark Latham has also given a sign to John Howard that he's going to try to fight back on interest rates – even though that is an extremely difficult task.

So, all in all an okay week. But if Mark Latham's going to mount a credible campaign to defeat John Howard, he's going to have to reveal his tax policy very soon, and it's going to have to be outstanding. And then he'll also need a huge amount of luck, and some surprises, and a hugely successful campaign if he's to have any chance.